The Enchanted Island of Yew, from 1903, is one of L. Frank Baum's less "Americanized" stories. As with Queen Zixi of Ix, I think this tale has more of a long ago and far away sensibility, and is a bit more European in style.This book was illustrated by Fanny Cory, who also illustrated The Master Key. For this title, Bobbs-Merrill tried a different approach. There are 8 full color
plates, but the text illustrations are printed in orange under the actual text. It's a fun look for the book, but the drawings are difficult to distinguish - I'd much prefer to see them on their own.M.A. Donohue publishers re-used the cover design from this title for another book, a collection of stories and fairy tales. I ran across one in a small antique mall once and was quite surprised to recognize the cover - since then I've seen a copy of it featured in the Baum Bugle. I had passed up the copy I saw, as it was in pretty rough condition!
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It would be nice to see those illustrations on their own... I bet someone with the know-how could remove the text from them.
(Seriously, this book needs a good reprint! All the reprints I've seen are not illustrated, or have a new set.)
Actually, I'm considering adapting "The Enchanted Island of Yew" as an animated video series when I'm done with my "Wonders of Oz" videos. I've already decided I'll start a bit later than the book, saving Marvel's true identity as a surprise at the end. (I've begun experimenting with Adobe Flash...)
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